Phantom of the Jeweled Night sky
by Keyblader3421
Summary: Having met and befriended the dragonets of destiny, Phantomtide has survived and escaped both ex-Queen Scarlet's arena and the attack on the Summer Palace. On the way to the Rainforest, he, the dragonets, and Webs are joined by Opal. (The story picks off where Phantom of a Chance left off, but the POVs will be switched between Opal and Phantomtide from now on.)
1. The Rainforest

It had been raining for five days now.

The group had arrived at the edge of the Rainforest and went into the trees, then they have had the pleasure of dealing with the rain for a while now, as well as the muddy ground it brought with it.

The rain was one thing that Phantomtide had gotten used to, being in water half of the time. But the mud was another thing, and it was squishy enough to make anyone's feet sink in with any step they took, and then there was the squelching sound when those feet were pulled free.

In addition to that noise at the frequency from the entire group walking, though, there was also the moaning, groaning, and dripping wounded Seawing with them.

"Can we stop?" Webs gasped. "I need to rest." He floundered through the mud to a slightly drier spot under a tree.

"Webs, you can rest when we've reached the village, at least." Phantomtide turns back to look at him, glancing past Opal, who was right besides him, hiding under his wing from the rain. Out of everyone, the rain seemed to affect Sunny and Opal the most, as the two were of the tribes that more preferred warmth and the sun.

Opal glanced back as well. Phantomtide immediately thought back to when the others had awoken and found the Skywing under his wing.

 _"Hey! What's she doing here?!" Tsunami nearly strained her vocal cords when she awoke him and Opal to question the both of them._

The hybrid chuckled softly. It took a bit to calm the Seawing, Starflight, and Glory down. Of course, Clay didn't seem all that concerned, and well, Sunny was more curious about the newcomer than anyone else. They did settle down after being told that Opal was a friend, but they both felt out an important detail for the time being. That being Opal was the thought-dead Skywing dragonet of the prophecy.

Clay paced over to Webs and peered down at his wound. It had been wrapped with seaweed soaked in ocean water for as long as it could be, but now they were too far inland to get any more. The poisoned scratched near Webs's tail had become an ugly gash surrounded by blackened scales, and the black seemed to spread more each day. Clay swept his tail through the mud, looking worried. "I hope the Rainwings can help him. This isn't exactly like their venom. But maybe they'll have more ideas than we do. If not, then we can have Phantomtide go see his friend and ask her."

"That's the plan, yeah." Phantomtide nods in response to the Mudwing, before hearing a loud splash. He turned around to find Glory leaping back with a hiss, looking more wet than she had before as she glared up into a tree.

"Shhh." Tsunami says from above. She dropped down and peered around the gloomy swamp. "There's a pair of Mudwings headed this way, but they'll never see us in this weather."

With the rolls of thick gray fog hanging over the mud, wreathing the stunted trees around them like smoke around a dragon's horns. The sky was gray in every direction, and the rain continued drizzling down unrelentingly. There was no question, a dragon could barely see their own wing tips in this, let alone another dragon.

"We should still hide." Starflight points out anxiously. "We're only a day's flight from Queen Moorhen's palace right now. If we get caught -"

"More prison." Clay sighs.

"Let's do our best to avoid that. I think twice is enough for you guys." Phantomtide nodded.

"Glory," Tsunami suddenly scolded. "Bright yellow scales are the one thing they _might_ see. Go back to camouflage."

Everyone looked at her, and saw the starbursts of gold that had appeared all across her scales. Though that changed within a few moments, when she blended in with their surroundings.

"Aaaand she's gone." Tsunami chuckles.

"She's still there." Sunny piped up, edging closer to Glory and bumped into one of her wings. "See? Right there?" She stretched out a talon, then felt around in the air for a moment, then gave up.

"I think I smell someone coming." Starflight whispers suddenly, swiveling his head. He shuddered from horns to claws.

"Don't panic." Tsunami whispers back. "Clay, you hide me and Sunny. Starflight, find a shadow and do your invisible petrified-Nightwing thing. Glory, you can shield Webs." She glanced to try and see Opal and Phantomtide, only to see nothing. The hybrid already went to a shadow, hiding the Skywing with his wing and body.

"No, thanks." Glory replied immediately. "I'll take Sunny."

"But -" Tsunami started, then they saw Sunny disappear, covered by Glory's camouflage.

"Yikes. That was so weird. Like Sunny just got eaten by the fog." Clay's stomach grumbled woefully at the word _eaten_ , and the Mudwing shuffled his big feet in embarrassment. Starflight peered at the spot where Sunny had just been, twisting his claws in the mud.

"She's fine." Glory says. "Go follow orders like a good dragonet, or Tsunami might fling you to the eels." The Seawing frowned in the direction of the Rainwing, as the Nightwing slunk away and found a dark tree hollow where his black scales melted into the shadows.

Right after Starflight hid, everyone heard the _tramp-squelch-tramp-squelch_ of enormous claws marching through the swamp towards them. Clay went to shepard Tsunami up next to Webs and spread his mud-colored wings to hide them both.

"I don't like this patrol," A deep voice grumbled, sounding like it came two trees away from their position. "Too close to that creepy rainforest, if you ask me."

"It's not really haunted." said a second voice. "You know the only things that live there are birds and lazy Rainwings."

"If that were true," said the first voice, "then Her Majesty would let us hunt in there. But she knows it's not safe. And you've heard the noises at night. Are you telling me it's the Rainwings screaming like that? Not to mention the dead bodies."

"That's not some kind of rainforest monster. That's the war. Some kind of guerilla attacks to scare us."

"All the way down here? Why would the Seawings or the Icewings come all this way to kill one or two Mudwings here and there? There are bigger battles going on everywhere else."

"Let's go a bit faster. They really should let us patrol in threes or fours instead of in pairs."

"Tell me about it. So what do you think about the Skywing situation? Are you for Ruby, or do you think…" Their voices faded into the mist as the two Mudwing soldiers sploshed on.

Phantomtide glances in the direction the voices went, before noticing Sunny was standing there, looking confused and worried into the area around them. Glory had slipped off under the cover of her camouflage, and the others crept quietly out of their hiding spots.

"Glory…" Sunny shook softly, looking at the trees.

"She better not get into trouble." Tsunami sighed a bit, "Let's wait here -"

"Glory!" Sunny suddenly yelled, only for Clay to cover her mouth.

"Shhh. We're still hiding, I think." The Mudwing says, as the others glance at each other, waiting for Glory to come back.

She does shortly, shifting into view.

"We need to move. Something killed the soldiers."


	2. Dangers of the Rainforest

"Remind me why we're walking _toward_ the place with the monster, the screaming, and the something that kills dragons?" Clay asked.

"We could go somewhere else. Maybe to the Icewings?" Starflight suggests

"Icewings! Yes!" Clay nods eagerly. "That sounds like a great plan. Let's do that. No mysterious dragon-killing things in the Ice Kingdom. Right? What are those animals they have up there? Penguins? I beat I could beat a penguin or two in battle. Couldn't I? How big are they? Maybe just one penguin."

"So we can freeze to death instead." Glory says. "Fantastic plan, Starflight. Not to mention the Ice Kingdom is half a continent away while the rainforest is right here."

"Besides, Webs will never make it all the way to the Ice Kingdom." Sunny chimes in.

"That is true." Opal nods, glancing at the wounded Seawing, then back in the direction they came from.

The gnarled claw shapes of the marsh trees were half a day behind them, and so were the Mudwing bodies. The group had agreed on leaving the area, in fear of getting caught near the site of the double murder, as well as the fact that whatever killed the soldiers, could still be nearby.

"See?" Glory looks back at Clay and Starflight. "Even Sunny is acting braver than you scaredy-scavengers."

" _Even_ Sunny?" the Sandwing flared. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm brave! I'm brave all the time!" She lashed her tail, and when Clay reached to pat her on the head, she ducked away from his hand.

"You're all brave in your own way." Phantomtide states with a soft sigh. "Can we do away with the fighting until we reach the Rainwing village?"

Before anyone replied, something crackled to their left.

"Have I mentioned this place makes me nervous?" Clay asked.

"Only about a thousand times."

"I wish we knew what the Mudwings were talking about." Sunny sighs. "How can they live right next to the rainforest and not know it's dangerous?"

"How can the Rainwings live in the forest if it's all that dangerous?" Glory countered.

"Because they're Rainwings. They probably haven't even noticed." Webs mutters.

"Maybe you'd like a matching venomous wound on your other side." Glory glares and snarls at him. Tsunami then whirled and grabbed Webs's snout. The bigger Seawing snorted with surprise and tried to jerk back, but she held him firmly in place.

"All right, enough. What do you know about this?" She demanded. "You're the only one who's been to the rainforest, unless these two have." She glances to Phantomtide and Opal. "Does it have some kind of monster?" She turns back to Webs and shook his snout none too gently. "Stop drooping like a wet fern and tell us what you know."

"Nuffing." Webs mumbles through Tsunami's grip.

"Stamp on his tail." Glory suggested. "Or poke that scratch. That'll get him talking."

"Don't be horrible." Sunny says as she nudged Webs's shoulder with her snout. "Webs, please warn us if you know something. It's not safe for you either."

Webs sighed, and Tsunami let him go. "I swear I don't know anything about a monster. I didn't see anything dangerous when I snuck in to steal Glory's egg. Honestly, it was really easy. It was the night before the brightest night, so you could tell which eggs were about to hatch, and I just took one and flew back to the mountains. I didn't even run into any Rainwings, let alone a monster."

"My parents weren't guarding their nest?" Glory asks. Webs looks down at his talons and shook his head in response.

"Maybe it's a new monster." Clay suggests. "Something that's come to the rainforest since you were here six years ago.

"Maybe." Webs said. "The Talons never sent anyone down this way."

"I can't tell you much about this place either." Starflight states as he looks at one of his claws. "There were almost no scrolls about the rainforest or the dragons who live here."

Something chattered loudly in the branches overhead, making most of the group jump.

"It was just a monkey." Glory said fiercely. "Or a...a toucan or something."

"Can we eat toucans?" Clay asked hopefully.

"Only if we can catch them." Tsunami answers as she flexed her wings and glanced up at the branches and vines overhead.

Phantomtide glanced around them. He had gotten used to the rainforest on previous visits, and managed to steel himself physically when going through. But that didn't stop him from mentally reacting to every sound or movement. Partly because he had been alone the other times. But with the idea of a monster capable of killing dragons somewhere in the forest, it added a lair of fear to those times. Where he could have been confronted by whatever it was.

"CAW! CAW!" Phantomtide snaps back to reality, seeing Tsunami in a battle pose, with Clay a step behind her. The others stopped as the Seawing glared around, searching for the source of the noise.

"I'm telling you, it's just toucans. There's nothing to be scared of. You're just jumpy."

"Now why would we be jumpy?" Tsunami retorts. "Oh, right. _The dead bodies._ "

"At least I told you about them!" Glory's ruff flares. "You two saw a dead body - of someone we _knew_ \- on day one in the Kingdom of the Sea and decided not to tell us."

"Guys -"

"That was different! That was Kestrel!" Tsunami cried. "I had to find a way to tell you properly.

"Super job you did there. What's your excuse?" Glory's gaze snapped to Phantomtide.

"I had more important things on my mind. Like freeing Clay and getting you four to a safe and warm cave." The hybrid replies, glancing to Starflight, noticing he was turning to frantic circles, staring out at the trees.

"GUYS!" The Nightwing yelled, making everyone else stop and look back at him. "Where's Sunny?!" Everyone else fell silent.

The Sandwing had vanished into thin air.


	3. Camouflaged surprises

"SUNNY!" Clay bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"She was mad." Starflight fretted. "Maybe she ran off because she was mad at us."

"She was? Why was she mad?" Clay asks

"Run off into a strange rainforest on her own. That's not like her." Tsunami states.

"SUNNY!" SUNNY!" Clay yelled again.

"We made it through the Skywing Kingdom and the Kingdom of the Sea without losing anyone, and now we're two minutes into the rainforest and one of us is gone?"

"She's not gone." Starflight's voice vibrates with panic. "She can't be! She has to be here somewhere. I was looking at her only a few moments ago."

Phantomtide glanced around, trying to find a trace of the Sandwing, or anything, before looking at the others, taking note who was still present, before he saw Webs disappear right in front of his eyes.

"Webs, what do you think happened?" Tsunami demanded, unaware of what just happened. No response came, and everyone else turned around to find that Webs was gone.

"No way." Clay said, flaring his wings. "He was just here. I saw his face when we realized Sunny was gone. Maybe ten seconds ago. He couldn't have disappeared in ten seconds."

"Guys -" Phantomtide starts, before he is interrupted.

"But he did!" Starflight cried. "He did, and Sunny did, into thin air."

"Ouch!" Tsunami growls, clapping a talon to her neck. "Something stung me!" Clay suddenly jumped and clawed at his neck as well. Starflight's eyes went wide, and then he threw himself to the ground and rolled under the nearest low-hanging bush with his wings over his head. Phantomtide spun back around, hearing something come flying right at him and Opal, before using his powers to stop them and make the two darts drop out of the air.

Opal glanced to Clay and Tsunami nervously, before watching them disappear before her eyes, which widen at seeing that.

"That's enough!" Glory calls out. "Come out here right now." At that, Phantomtide knew she had figured it out, though he knew at the moment Webs disappeared from sight. He glances over to her, noticing she was planted next to Starflight's hiding spot.

There was a pause, and then a dragon the color of raspberries stood in front of Glory, grinning. Another one, dark blue dappled with gold, appears beside the first. She was grinning as well.

Rustling overhead made them look up, noticing the trees were suddenly full of dragons. Rainwings curled around the trunks of hung from the branches by their tails. Deep shades of violet, iridescent peach, pale jade, and bright yellow were present on many of the dragons.

"Aw look!" The raspberry dragon says. "She's happy to see us!"

Phantomtide and Opal glance at Glory, seeing small bubbles of rose pink were rising up from her talons to her wings.

"Poor little dragonet." The dark blue Rainwing murmured. "Why are her scales so dull?"

:"Shhh, don't be rude." The first Rainwing says. "Hello, tiny one. I'm Jambu, and this is Liana. What's your name, and why don't we know you already?"

"Glory, and the easily terrified black one is Starflight." She replies, glancing behind her towards the Nightwing, who was peering out from under the bush. "Where are my friends?"

The dark blue dragon - Liana - tilted one of her wings up at the trees. Amid the dragons clustered overhead were four hanging nets woven of vine. Sunny, Webs, Clay, and Tsunami were inside. All their eyes were closed and hanging limply like sacks of fish.

"Are they okay?" Starflight cried.

"Sleeping darts, Starflight." Phantomtide says, poking one of the two on the ground in front of him.

"That's right! Let's just say we have some tree frogs around that you wouldn't want to lick. Your friends will wake up fine in a few hours." Jambu stares quizzically at Phantomtide and Opal.

"Oh, right. I'm Phantomtide. This is Opal." He introduces him and the Skywing.

"It's easier to meet new dragons this way." Liana states. "We've had a couple of grumpy brown ones stumble in here, and for some reason they start biting us before we can even say hello. This way we get to chat first, while they're still a bit groggy."

"Plus it's more fun. Practicing dart-shooting on ourselves isn't the same."

"They probably won't think it's so fun." Glory points out. "Especially the blue one. She can be a little cranky. Just to warn you."

"So...are we your prisoners now?" Starflight asked glumly.

The dark blue dragon burst into gales of laughter, and amused noises swept through all the dragons in the trees.

"Rainwings don't take prisoners, funny little black dragon." Liana said when she could speak again. "Whatever would we do with them?"

"Interrogate them for information." Glory suggested. "Trade them for hostages or weaponry. Contain them to minimize any threats."

"Or yell weird and random things at them?" Opal adds in with a giggle.

The Rainwings blink at Glory as if she suddenly started speaking toucan, as Jambu glances at Opal.

"Just an idea." Glory shrugs

"What kind of things?" Jambu asks the Skywing. Opal grins widely.

Phantomtide's eyes widen as he feels Opal stamp on his front hand with her own.

"OW! FART NUGGETS!" He roars, pulling his hand away.

"Like that!" Opal giggles. The Rainwings look confused, before a ripple of laughter goes through them.

"If we're not your prisoners, though," Starflight speaks up after the laughter dies down again. "Then what are you going to do with us?"

"Well." Jambu muses, glancing up at the position of the sun over the canopy. "Is anyone hungry?"

And then the trees began to scream.


	4. Village Hidden in the Leaves

Starflight nearly leapt out of his scales. Opal threw herself onto the ground and covered her head with her wings. Phantomtide flinched a bit and looked towards the trees.

The screams faded, as the Rainwings stared at Glory quizzically.

"Are you all right?" Jambu asks. "Wow, that's a spooked color. You weren't freaked like that by us! We clearly need to work on our scariness."

"I'm not _spooked_." Glory retorted.

"I am." Starflight stammered. "What - what was that noise?"

"Oh!" Liana exclaims. "The screamer monkeys." She pointed up, towards a pair of large brown monkeys lounging on a branch overhead. "They started doing that a few years ago."

"It startled us at first, too." Jambu stated sympathtically. "They used to make these deeper, grunt-y noises, but now it's all shrieking and gibbering like dragons being murdered. You get used to it."

"Not if you live the sort of life I do." Phantomtide says.

"Come on back to our village." Jambu says. "We could knock you out for the flight there, if you want. You might be more comfortable. There are a lot of branches in the way."

"No, thank you." Starflight replies.

"Absolutely not." Glory says at the same time.

Jambu then glances to Phantomtide and Opal, the Skywing having recovered from the scare by now.

"I would prefer to fly there myself.." Phantomtide says.

"As would I." Opal adds in.

"All right." Jambu shrugs. "Then follow us."

Glory, Starflight, Phantomtide, and Opal follow after the Rainwings into the canopy, high above the forest floor. After a bit of flying, they soon arrived at the home of the Rainwings.

"Oh." Glory took in a breath of surprise and joy.

The iridescent colors of the dragons brought the hidden world forward. Otherwise, the village was camouflaged as well as any Rainwing. Wide vine walkways, shimmering with talon-sized orange orchids, hung between leafy platforms. A few of the treehouses had low walls or woven ceilings, others were open to the sky can carpeted with soft white flowers like fallen clouds.

Opal gasps softly, taking in the natural beauty of the village. "I wasn't expecting this."

"It's quite the sight, isn't it? Been here a few times myself." Phantomtide grins.

"Visitors!" Liana called, as she and the other Rainwings lowered Clay's net onto a platform wide enough for twenty dragons. Glory and Starflight landed besides the Mudwing, as Opal lands on the same platform, followed by Phantomtide.

Dragon heads popped up from all around the village, mostly from vine hammocks. Phantomtide caught a sudden flash of silver and pale blue scales. He directed his gaze, seeing a Icewing peering out from one of the huts further away from the platform. His gaze narrowed, a bit confused as to why one was in the Rainwing village, of all places.

"Clever." Starflight suddenly says, bringing Phantomtide out of his thoughts. The Nightwing had his head tilted at the hammock. He glanced at the ground miles below them and shivered. "I certainly wouldn't want to sleep this high without something like that. Look at that hammock design - you can't fall out, and with Rainwing camouflage, enemies aren't likely to spot you either."

"That's pretty neat. And useful." Opal smiles a bit. "You sound a bit like dad. But then again, he is a Nightwing as well!" She giggles. Starflight looks at her in confusion.

"Your dad's a Nightwing?!"

"Well, adoptive dad. But still, he's raised me, so he counts as my dad. I know who my real parents are, well, mother at any rate, but I'd prefer my adoptive father over my real mother."

"Who's your -"

"Hope you're hungry!" Liana interrupts Starflight, as five small dragons in shades of sky blue and copper drop through the canopy toward them, opening their talons, letting strange shapes bounce and roll across the platform.

"Is all this fruit?" Starflight asked, scanning the platform with a disappointed expression. "Isn't there any meat?"

"You can hunt if you want." Liana wrinkles her nose at him. "But really, it's a waste of energy."

"Fruits are awesome!" One of the Rainwings in the hammocks chimes in.

"I'm a banana!" Another calls out. Opal glances over in the direction of the voice, seeing a Rainwing with scales matching the fruit mentioned, hanging from one of the trees by her tail.

Liana giggles at glancing to where Opal was looking. "It's also almost our sun time, so if you must hunt, then do it quietly."

"Sun time?" Glory asks curiously.

"Oh, sweetheart." Liana shook her head. "Is that's what's wrong with you? You're the second dragon who has asked that."

"I was not aware that anything was wrong with me." Glory replies. "Not from a Rainwing point of view, anyway. Second dragon?"

"It's just your scales. They're so...mousy. You know." Liana says apologetically. "A little dull. Not like ours. And yes. She asked too, and she was a Rainwing as well. Weird, isn't it? She and her friends are still here. Unlike most who we bring here." She says while stretching out one wing, letting a waterfall of rainbows ripple through it..

"Hmm." Glory musees softly. "Okay. So tell me about sun time."

"Sun time." Liana said smoothly. "It's the hours when the sun is highest, so we climb up as close to it as we can and sleep."

"Oh!" Starflight interjected. "Glory! It's like those naps you always take after lunch. I _knew_ that must be a Rainwing thing. But I could never figure out the point. Why sleep in the middle of the day? Don't you all have anything important to do?"

"The sun recharges our scales while we sleep." Liana explains. "It makes us prettier, better at camouflage, smarter, and happier. What could be more important than that?"

"Well, it seems pretty important for Rainwings, but it wouldn't be so for any other tribe." Opal says. "I mean, each tribe values their own thing. Nightwings, knowledge. Sandwings, warmth. Mudwings, mud. And so forth."

"Happier...like...less grouchy?" Starflight thinks out loud, studying Glory.

"Shut up." Glory flares a bit, giving him a shove. She then turns back to Liana after shaking herself fiercely for a moment. "So go sleep. We're not going anywhere."

"True. We'll wake up before your friends do."

"Don't you want to ask all your questions first?" Starflight looks at Glory. "Don't you want to find your family and -"

"There's no rush." Glory cuts him off. "They're asleep now anyway. The answers will be the same in a few hours.

"Can we at least ask about the monster?" Starflight scratches his head.

"Monster?" Liana laughed. "There's no such thing as monsters."

"Really? Then what's been killing Mudwing soldiers on your borders?"

"Oh. _That_ monster."

Starflight's wings flared, and his eyes went wide as the moons. Opal looked a bit scared, but burst out laughing at the same time Liana did.

"Your face!" Liana cries. "That was so worth it. I'm just kidding, little black dragon. I don't know anything about any dead Mudwings, but I do know we don't have any monsters here."

"Just relax, Starflight." Glory says. "Think about libraries, or talk more with Opal about scrolls or something."

"Little dragon." Jambu calls from a perch high above the platform. "Are you joining us for sun time? Want a hammock? Or a platform?" He offers.

"Go ahead." Starflight says. "It's okay. I'll watch them. With these two." He nods at Phantomtide and Opal, then shook his wings and puffed his chest out imposingly, which looked funny, like a tree frog trying to look menacing.

"Wake me if you need to." Glory says. "If I hear someone shrieking like a little scavenger, I'll assume it's you."

Starflight huffed in outrage as Glory scooped up a couple of fruits and flew up to Jambu.

Opal sits down next to the Nightwing, grinning at him. "So, starface, got any scrolls you would want to talk about?"

"Starface?" He echoes, huffing again. "Where'd that come from?!"

"Well, you've got 'stars' in your wings, and you like to make silly faces. What, you don't like it?"

"I prefer my name, thank you very much."

"Okay! So, you guys were in the Kingdom of the Sea. Did you get the chance to read any new scrolls, or hear something from the classes? Dad brought home at least something new every other day."

"Who is your dad, anyway?" Starflight asks curiously. "And your mother, for that fact. But I didn't get to read anything there."

"Oh? Well, that's a shame. Dad, though, he's Metalhide. He's interesting for a Nightwing. And I mean that. As for mom...well, I'm pretty sure you've met her. You were her prisoners, for a bit…"

Starflight's eyes go wide. "You're...Scarlet's…?"

Opal nods. "One of her daughters, yes."


	5. Wings of Sky

"That's…I didn't...I'm so confused." Starflight stutters, scratching his head. "The scrolls said that she didn't have anyone besides a single daughter. A few sons, yes but not more than one daughter. Which is Ruby."

Opal nods a bit. "Well, that information is based of what is believed to be true. But that doesn't mean it is the truth."

Starflight grumbles softly in response, then looks back at her. "You're nothing like Queen Scarlet. Which is somewhat surprising to me. I mean, Tsunami has some aspects of Queen Coral…"

"Is that a bad thing?" Opal asks, then sticks her tongue out at Starflight.

"...Okay, that's a fair point." He nods, frowning a bit at her silly expression. "You have anything else to say that will change any other fact from truth to fiction?"

Opal looks above them, then back at the platform, then to the other sleeping dragonets and Webs, before looking back to Starflight. "There is, um, one thing. But you'll have to promise me to keep it a secret."

"By that, I assume it's important?" Starflight asks. "Not sure why you'd tell me something like that. We barely know each other."

"Maybe so, but I want to say it anyways." Opal sighs softly. "You see, I almost died when I was still a egg. I only survived because my adoptive father was in the right place at the right time. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure I would have ended up a broken and very dead dragonet at the bottom of a gorge, thanks to Burn."

Starflight nodded a bit, before pausing, his mouth falling open and his eyes widening a bit. "B-b-but...Kestrel found the eggshell shard…"

"What she found was a shard of broken pottery. Dad was in the process of delivering some when he came upon my egg falling. Some broke when he caught me, and he discarded the broken pieces in a very smart move." Opal explains.

Starflight fell silent, his shocked expression still hanging, as he couldn't believe what he had just heard. After a bit, he snapped his mouth shut, rubbing his head a bit.

"So, you were alive the whole time. Life under the mountain would have been far more lively with you around, especially considering how it was with Sunny."

"Maybe, but it certainly wouldn't have been the life you lived with her and the others." Opal shrugs.

"That's true. If you were with us...then Glory wouldn't have been brought in, and we would have never tried to escape to save her. So we would have probably lived out the rest of our time in there, waiting for the right moment, under the mountain."

"Probably. It wasn't much different than living with Metalhide. Stayed in a secluded cave, in secret, with only one person knowing the way to it."

"What good is living the life you've been given, if all you do is stand in one place?" They hear someone ask, turning to look. Starflight flares a bit in surprise, while Opal blinks in confusion. Of all the dragons they could have expected to see, the one that stood there was the last one either could have expected.

"What? Oh, right. The whole rivalry thing. Or the fact I'm in a place where you don't expect to find one of my tribe." The Icewing shrugs a bit. "Calm down, little Nightwing. I'm not going to hurt you over some tragedy in the past. And I can tolerate heat and humidity unlike any other Icewing."

"I still wasn't expecting to see a Icewing in the Rainforest." Opal states

"I wouldn't be expecting to see a Skywing, Nightwing, Mudwing, Seawing, Sandwing, and a hybrid in the Rainforest either." The Icewing retorts.

"Okay, fair point." The Skywing giggles softly. "But you are right on the whole 'What good is' thing."

Starflight just sat there, staring warily at the Icewing.

"Tell your friend to stop staring at me, please." He asks Opal, then turns to Starflight. "I can't be the most attention grabbing thing you've ever seen."

"Come on, Starflight. It's kinda rude." Opal nudges him. He tears his gaze away from the Icewing, looking at Opal. "He's not doing anything out of that rivalry, so you shouldn't either." She bonks the Nightwing's forehead, causing him to yelp slightly and rub his forehead.

"Thank you. Now, to answer what I'm doing here. Simple, I'm avoiding the war by residing where the war has and will not go. The Rainforest, home of the Rainwings."

"Okay, that's actually smart." Starflight wrinkles his snout a bit. "Are you Talons of Peace?"

"No. I'm just a dragon who wants to live. And that's not a certainty if war is ongoing. You likely have seen what is going on, in the rest of Pyrrhia. And before you say it's cowardly to do this, yes, it is. But it is also cowardly to get other tribes to fight in a war that has nothing to do with them."

"Like how the Sandwings sisters did." Opal nods a bit.

The Icewing glances behind him, then back to the two. "I'd love to talk more, but that'll have to be later. I have friends here, and well, we're kinda in the same way as you. Friends and such." He then turns around, heading off.

"Wait. What's your name?" Opal asks quickly.

"Frostfall. And yours?"

"Opal. And he's Starflight."

"Hrm. Well, it's been a pleasure. See you later." He takes off, leaving the two alone with the snoozing dragons.


	6. Serious silliness

After the Icewing had gone back, Phantomtide landed back on the platform. Opal and Starflight blinked at him, as they hadn't noticed his absence during the conversation they had with each other, then with Frostfall. The hybrid had a woven vine net hanging between his teeth, which was filled with fish. He dropped the net in front of Starflight.

"Might not be the meat you wanted, but it's the meat you're getting. Hope you like." Phantomtide states, sitting down and examining the fruit pile besides him.

Starflight immediately opens the net, sticking his snout into the fish.

"You didn't tell us you had gone fishing while we were talking." Opal crinkles her snout at Phantomtide.

"You were locked into that conversation, and I didn't want to interrupt to say what I was going to do." Phantomtide replies.

"That's fair." Starflight says, with several fish in his maw. "Really good fish, also."

"Really? Lemme try some!" Opal swivels her head towards the fish, nabbing one between her talons and biting into it. "Ooo, you're right!"

"Glad you like." Phantomtide chuckles a bit. "I find fresh water fish much better than salt water fish. One of the reasons why I frequent the rainforest. Though I stay mostly to the ground, where the water collects in ponds and lakes."

"So you made these nets ahead of time?" Starflight inquires.

"Nope. I don't leave anything lying around that might point to my presence."

"Then how - Oh, right. Animus." Starflight stares at him a bit, then goes back to the fish.

"Yeah. Be happy this one is your friend and ally." Phantomtide grins teasingly. "And not able to lose his soul, for whatever reason."

"That's what I wonder about." Starflight says. "How did that exactly happen?" Phantomtide fell quiet at that question, before musing on it himself.

"I have no idea. I suppose I hatched that way...but I don't actually know how or why."

"Really?" Starflight blinks at him. "Huh. Maybe it was someone else? Your parents? I mean, you did say at one point you hatched alone, in a dusty cave, yes?"

"Yeah, that's right. I have no idea who my parents are, where they are, how I carry Seawing royal blood, or why my animus powers don't affect my soul."

"There might be a scroll out there that has one of those answers." Opal points out. "Probably would be Nightwing written, with all the knowledge gathering and all."

"That's probably true. But I don't recall any scrolls listing recent animus, but probably cause they keep it to themselves, at their secret home."

"True…"

"Anyhow, what are we going to do until the others wake up?" Opal looks between Starflight and Phantomtide, hoping for suggestions. Starflight glances around as the hybrid shrugs, accidentally bumping several fruit off of the pile besides him. One rolls up and bumps against Clay's snout.

"I have no idea. If you're a Rainwing, this is the most important time of the day.. If you're not, the Rainforest is kinda boring during sun time."

"Hey, look at Clay." Starflight suddenly says. Opal and Phantomtide look over, noticing the Mudwing's snout was twitching, before they all notice it was moving slightly towards the fruit.

"That's something." Opal says, getting up and moving the fruit away. Clay sighed in his sleep right after she did. "The big guy loves food so much he reacts subconsciously when he's sleeping. That's a bit cute." She giggles softly, rolling the fruit back next to the Mudwing's nose. His snout starts twitching again, this time moving more towards the fruit, his tongue flicking in and out as well.

"Let's see if he does the same with other fruits." Starflight rolls over one of the larger fruits, a round and light pink melon looking thing. Opal grabs hers back, sitting down and watching with a silly grin.

"I like how we went from serious conversation to messing with a sleeping Mudwing's appetite." Phantomtide chuckles a bit.

"Whatcha mean? This is serious! Seriously funny!" Opal protests with a giggle.

"If you say so." The hybrid shrugs, still chuckling at the sight of the Nightwing and Skywing taking turns rolling different fruits in front of Clay's nose, jumping back, then retrieving the fruit and watching Clay's reactions.

"Well, at least you're having fun."

This activity ended up going on for a while, until Glory returned.

(Author's note In response to Deathbringer14's questions and requests.

1\. The answer is in the chapter.

2\. I plan to do that, yes.

3\. Your OC. I don't mind adding one in, especially with said OC being a original tribe. I have one myself that'll come in later, but I won't be publicly spoiling any details on my tribe.

4\. If you would care to make a official account, I would like to talk in Private Messages.)


	7. Cute and fuzzy

"Heu, Glory!" Starflight called out the moment he spotted her. "Watch this!" The Nightwing rolled the same pinkish fruit in front of Clay's nose and jumped back, as Opal watched him do so with a silly grin.

Clay's nose started twitching again, his snout trembling, sniffing and inching closer and closer to the melon. His stomach growled loudly and his tongue flicked in and out. Starflight took the melon away again, and Clay stopped moving with a long, tragic sigh.

"Isn't it hilarious?" Starflight asked the Rainwing, who gave him a amused look in return.

"I've always figured torturing our sleeping friends would be funny."

"We kinda did it on accident, then got too into it." He says, sitting back.

"It's silly, He really loves food, doesn't he?" Opal giggles, glancing to Clay.

"It's one of the things that constantly stay on his mind." Glory nods.

"Hey, have you asked him about your -" Starflight begins to ask.

"Yup." Glory interjected. "Dead end."

"We're brother and sister!" Jambu announced gleefully.

Starflight tilted his head slowly to one side. "You don't seem...much alike." He politely gave the understatement of the day.

Opal glances to them. "So, how was sun time?"

"It was amazing, as always!" Jambu beams.

"Same." Glory shrugs, then everyone heard a sloth on Glory's back go "Squerble."

Starflight's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Glory! There's a sloth on you! You've got sloth - a sloth - it's sitting right on your neck!"

"I know." Glory replied. "Apparently they're like pets to the Rainwings. This one likes me. Even though I've explained to it that I'm pretty disagreeable."

"It's cute." Opal remarks. "Looks like it's smiling in a silly way."

"If I remember right, pets don't tend o do well in dragon communities. They usually get eaten by forgetful relatives or sometimes by the owner herself. Scavengers, on the other talon, apparently keep all kinds of odd prey animals as pets, like cows, goats, and fish. That's according to A Longitudinal Study of Peculiar Scavenger Behavior, anyway."

"We would never eat our pets." Jambu interjected. "Why bother? There's enough fruit in the rainforest to be sure no Rainwing goes hungry, and the sun gives us more than half the energy we need to survive anyway."

"So you really don't eat meat?" Starflight asked. "You're all vegetarians? Vegetarian dragons?"

"We're not strict about it." Jambu says as he waved his front talons airily. "We eat what we feel like eating. Bananas are much easier to catch and peel than monkeys are, that's all."

"Ouch!" A small voice says behind Glory and Jambu. "I think something… bit me… what - where are we?" Starflight bound over to Sunny's side.

"Are you all right?" He asks as he helps her stand up. The little Sandwing blinked several times and stared around at the Rainwing village. "How did we get here?" She shook her wings and peeked over the edge of the platform. "Oh my gosh, that's a long way down. Glory, you have a cute furry thing! Can I hold it, please please?"

"Why not?" Glory responded, disentangling the sloth from around her neck. "Just don't eat it." She passed it over to Sunny, who cradled it gently between her front talons. Opal inched over, wanting to see the little creature up close, as the word cute had grabbed her attention.

"Awwwh, it is cute!" The Skywing giggles softly, almost poking the sloth with her snout as she examines it. "Looks kinda dopey too, but in a good and silly way!"

The sloth poked Opal's snout in a curious, exploratory way, which made her retract a bit, her snout twitching a bit, before,

"WA-CHOO!" The Skywing sneezes loudly, almost letting out a plume of smoke in the process, before embarrassingly covering her snout with both hands. The sloth seems unaffected by this, poking Sunny's snout in much the same way, before climbing up it onto her head and sat down with a yawn.

"It's not afraid of dragons at all." Starflight muses. "Fascinating."

"Oooooooorgh," Webs moans out, getting their attention. He was clutching his head with his eyes still closed. "Everything hurts."


	8. Rainwings don't do things

Sunny crawled over to him and checked on his wound.

"Nothing's going to get me!" Tsunami suddenly yelled, leaping to her feet. "I'll fight off any poisonous bugs! _ACK WHERE ARE WE?_ " She wobbled on her talons and tipped over with a thud.

"Don't move too fast." Jambu suggested helpfully. "The tranquilizer takes a little while to completely wear off."

"TRANQUILIZER?" Tsunami shouted. "How dare you -"

"Tsunami, stop yelling." Glory says. "Or I'll ask him to knock you out again."

"I'd like to see him try!" Tsunami cried in response.

"Please do." Glory looks at Jambu. "Do you have any darts that last for, say, days?"

"We don't do multiple darts in one day." Jambu explained, taking Glory seriously. "Just to be safe."

Tsunami flared her wings and glowered fiercely at Jambu and the other Rainwings who were beginning to gather on the platform around them.

"Welcome to the village of the Rainwings, Tsunami." Phantomtide interjects, trying to lift the tense mood. "We hope you'll enjoy your stay." This earns a laugh from Opal and Starflight, the latter of whom was wearing a amused expression.

"Clay?" Sunny nudges the Mudwing. "Clay, wake up. Are you all right? Is he all right?"

"He should be fine." Liana stated as she swooped up behind Jambu. "His dose wasn't any different than the rest of yourse."

"I'm awake." Clay muttered, as he buried his head under his talons. "I'm just waiting until Glory and Tsunami stop fighting. I was dreaming about sheep and buffalo and bears. They were all on the table in front of me and I had to decide which to eat first. Oh, and they all smelled like melons. That part was kind of weird."

Opal and Starflight grin at each other at hearing the Mudwing say that.

"Sunny!" Tsunami suddenly cried, making the Sandwing jump. "Stay very still. There's a sloth on your head. If I hit it just right, we can share if for dinner." She stepped forward, flexing her talons. A murmur of disapproval washed through the watching Rainwings.

"Oh, no you don't." Glory flared. She brushed past Tsunami and snatched the sloth away from Sunny. It cheerfully wrapped around her neck. "It's mine." Glory said to the Seawing.

"Yours?" Tsunami echoed. "Yours as in you're saving it for a midnight snack?"

"Mine as in don't touch." Glory answers. "And don't make snide comments either."

" _Me?_ " Tsunami raises a brow. " _You're_ telling _me_ not to make snide comments?"

"Clay, come on," Sunny says, tugging on his ears. "Make them stop so somebody will help Webs."

Phantomtide sits down, sighing softly. Arguing seemed to be a thing that constantly happened between those two. Opal looked between the Seawing and Rainwing, look a bit concerned, then notices the poisoned scratch near Webs's tail. She goes over and looks at it, studying it intently.

"That's right." Starflight says to Sunny. "We should focus on Webs. Of course you're right. I'll take care of this." He turned to Jambu and Liana. "We urgently request an audience with Queen Dazzling."

The two Rainwings wrinkled their snouts thoughtfully.

"Queen Dazzling?" Liana said. "You don't mean that."

"I do." Starflight insisted. "It's of the utmost importance. We must see her at once."

"Dazzling." Jambu says to Liana. "It's not her month, is it?"

"I don't think so." Liana agreed. "I guess they could see her anyway."

"We must!" Starflight said firmly. "Take us to her at once!"

"Wait," Glory jumped in."What do you mean, 'not her month?'

"Well," Jambu starts. "Wouldn't you rather see the current queen? If it's so important?"

Starflight's pompous attitude fizzled out like someone had dumped a pile of snow on it. "But….but, the _Nightwing Guide to the Tribes_ said - I'm _sure_ it said Queen Dazzling."

"It also said we have no natural weapons." Glory pointed out. "So perhaps it's not the most reliable source, at least about Rainwings. Who's the current queen?" She ask Liana.

"I'm pretty sure it's Magnificent right now." Liana answers. "Unless she handed it over to Grandeur a bit early."

"You _take turns_ being queen?" Tsunami bursts out. "Are you _serious_?"

"They're as serious as you are about yelling a lot, Tsunami." Phantomtide quips, making her glare at him, before she turns back to do so at Jambu and Liana, though more with a scowl.

"Only the ones who want to." Liana says. "Most of us find it way too much work, you know?"

"Yeah. _SO_ boring. Dragons bother you all day long." Jambu agreed. "Makes me glad _I_ can't be queen."

"So who can?" Glory asks. "Anyone? Or only the royal family?"

"Royal family!" Jambu echoed with great amusement.

"Oh, right." Glory sighed. "Rainwings don't _do_ families." She informed her friends. Sunny tilted her head at Glory.

"Pretty much any female in the tribe can be queen if she wants to."

"Really?" Tsunami said curiously. "How about me? Can I be queen? I'm originally a princess, you know. And I'm really good at telling dragons what to do."

Jambu and Liana looked at her dubiously. Tsunami shifted her sea-blue wings, raised her snout in a queenly way, and flashed the royal glowing patterns in her scales. A sudden wave of laughter washed through the Rainwings gathered around, confusing Tsunami, before she noticed that Opal had assumed the same pose as the Seawing in playful mocking. The Skywing's expression was spot on, but her mouth quivered, as if she wanted to burst into laughter herself.

"Well," Jambu says after composing himself. "I guess you could ask."

"Absolutely not." Glory said, glancing at Opal, who had then fallen onto the ground and entered a fit of giggling and rolling around in a silly manner, before turning back to Tsunami. "Have a little tribe dignity, for moons' sake. You cannot have a Seawing as queen of the Rainwings. Tsunami, quit it."

"When you say it like that, it does sound weird." She agreed, scratching her ruff with one talon as she glared at Opal in annoyance.

"So fine, take us to Queen Magnificent. How far is the palace?" Glory inquiries. Most of the Rainwings politely tried to muffle their laughter at that..

"We don't really _do_ palaces." Liana says. "Come on, follow me." Glory and the other dragonets, including Webs took off after her, leaving Phantomtide and Opal with Jambu and the other Rainwings.

Opal glances around them, then at Jambu. "Got anything fun to do?"


	9. Those with stars in their eyes

"Well, I'm not sure what you could do for fun that we usually do around here, since that stuff is better when you're a Rainwing. But I can suggest you going to met the other visitors here! Well, more living here actually, instead of staying for a few days!"

"Other visitors?" Opal echoes, immediately curious. "Oooh, is that Icewing...Frostfall, I think his name was!"

"Yeah!" Jambu nods. "He and his friends are different! Even the Rainwing with them, when they all arrived here, is different!"

"Different?" Phantomtide asks. "Different how?"

"Well...I could tell you, but they told me it's best if anyone who asks would see for themselves. As long as they don't have bad intentions." He sticks out his tongue out. "As if anyone would have those here."

"Can you show us where they are right now?" Phantomtide stands up, stretching himself a bit. "I'd like to meet this entire group."

Opal gets up as well. "Me too! They sound interesting!"

"This way." Jambu says, taking into the air and gliding ahead. Phantomtide and Opal follow after him, weaving through the forest, before they land at another platform, which has a rather large hut on it. "Here we are!" The Rainwing cheerfully announces.

Opal scurries in, glancing curiously around, as Phantomtide follows her in. They both immediately notice the Icewing, but that wasn't the strangest part. A dragon from every tribe on Pyrrhia was there, lying down together, sharing fruit, and talking with each other like there was no war waging across the continent. The sight baffled the hybrid, but Opal didn't seem to mind it one bit.

"Hello!" She cheerfully greets the seven dragons. They all look up at hearing her, and that's when they noticed. The seven dragons's eyes had star-shaped irises. Something no other dragon in the land could possibly have. Seeing that got a soft gasp out from Opal, and a confused grunt from Phantomtide.

"What's up with your eyes?" The hybrid questions/

"...Honestly, your guess is as good as ours." Frostfall replies.

"What? You don't know yourselves?"

"Not even a hint. We're the first ones to likely ever to have something like this." The Nightwing speaks up. "It's part of the reason why we came here, to the Rainforest. Out of all the tribes, the Rainwings are the least likely to judge us based on how different our eyes are."

"Not to mention, none of us have no prior memory before we woke up together, in a cave at Jade Mountain. There was no clues around, it was just an empty cave." The Mudwing adds in. "Besides us, that is."

"Stars in the eyes. You think something like that would be important knowledge, especially among the Nightwings, what with their powers of prophecy and foresight. Something like that, especially with one from each tribe, has to mean something." Phantomtide muses.

"If you'd like to talk more about it with us, feel free to. You might have more information on it than we do. Seeing as there's nothing to read around here, and we're not exactly willing to risk it by going out and asking for scrolls to read."

"That is true." Opal nods a bit. "The Rainwings don't read much, do they? Then again, they probably doing think they need to. Can they even read at all?" The Skywing giggles at that. "That's so weird if they don't!"

"They actually aren't versed in reading." The Rainwing states. "Well, I am, but not the Rainwing tribe in general."

"Glory knows how to read. She was taught that. But I guess they just don't have teachers on reading around here." Phantomtide nods. "But you would think there would be something mentioning those eyes...I mean, with many scrolls talking about legendary dragons with huge deeds and mystical powers, you'd think there'd be at least one that covers dragons with star-eyes."

"Right?" Opal nods. "I haven't read anything like it either! It's so strange! But it could mean it's a new thing! I do love new things!"

"Speaking of new things, I don't believe we introduced ourselves properly." Frostfall states. "As you know, I'm Frostfall. This is Hibiscus," He gestures to the Sandwing. "Quake, Peak, Stream, Truthfinder, and Tulip." His talons point to the Mudwing, then Seawing, Skywing, Nightwing, and finally Rainwing. "My friends, this is Phantomtide and Opal."

"Pleasure to meet you!" Opal beams happily. "I'm happy to make new friends!"

"Likewise." Peak nods. "Glad to see another happy-go-lucky Skywing. From what I hear, most are angry hot-heads who like to set things on fire!"

"Oh, yeah! I'm glad I'm not like them!" Opal giggles.

"And you're a hybrid, yes?" Stream turns to Phantomtide. "You look like it."

"I am, yes." He nods as he replies. "You can probably guess which I'm of."

"Seawing and Nightwing." Truthfinder muses. "A very interesting combination."

"You two hungry?" Tulip asks, offering Opal and Phantomtide some of the fruit in the room.

"Thank you!" Opal smiles, then bites into the nearest fruit as Phantomtide scoots one closer and bites into it as well.


	10. Mystery of the missing Rainwings

"So, how long have you all been here, living in the Rainforest?" Phantomtide asked.

"A while now. Less than half of a year, I think." Hibiscus replies. "And if it wasn't for the fact that we want to remember whatever we forget, we all agreed we'd live on here. It's fun, the sun feels amazing, there's enough fruit to go around, and if we want meat, there's fish in the ponds and streams down on the surface. Plenty of those too, as not many actually go to them."

"Yeah." Opal nods a bit. "Those fish are really tasty."

"Though we've been staying away from the surface recently. Even near the edge of the rainforest." Tulip states.

"That sounds ominous." Phantomtide looks at the Rainwing curiously. "Why so?"

"Rainwings have seemingly been vanishing. And not the camouflage vanishing. More the type of vanishing and never being heard from again, you know?"

"...Okay, that's not what I was expecting to hear." The hybrid thinks for a second. "Any specifics on that? Like how many?"

"From what I hear, seven females, five males. Four of them were dragonets." Tulip answers.

"Not just adults, but dragonets?" Opal looks concerned. "That sounds really weird. Like, why'd that many, especially dragonets, just vanish?"

"We don't know, but we're scared to try and find out. We don't know how to fight, if it's a kidnapping ring that's doing it, so we're just as much a target as any Rainwing." Truthfinder states.

"That does seem to be the most likely option of the ones we discussed. Cause the Rainwings don't do such things, as you know, they're the most peaceful tribe on Pyrrhia." Peak adds in.

"Well, if you stick together, you'd have less of a chance of getting caught, you know?" Opal points out.

"But also a bigger chance of getting noticed." Frostfall retorts. "Who wouldn't become wary after seeing a group like us?"

"Okay, yeah, that would be pretty brow-raising." Opal nods and looks down.

"Hey, your friends are going somewhere." Quake points out the door. Phantomtide and Opal turn around, seeing Glory, Clay, and Starflight going with a Rainwing, taking into the air.

"We'll be back later." Phantomtide says. "Opal, let's go." He exits the hut, following after the four alongside Opal.

They flew down to the rainforest floor, the light fading as they descended.

"Isn't there fruit to gather closer to home?" Glory calls to the other Rainwing ahead of them, who nodded twisted his head to glance back at her. "Orchid and I like to search farther out in case we find something new. The rainforest is full of surprises - we find a new kind of fruit at least once a year." He then lands besides a giant fallen tree overgrown with moss and vines. "Don't eat any of those." He warns Clay, seeing the Mudwing's gaze was on some bug-eyed sky-blue frogs near the tree.

"Stmmph chmmphing." Clay mumbled, pointing to his jaws, where some kind of red fruit appeared to be stuck.

"Are they poisonous?" Starflight asks as he poked the branches.

"No." The Rainwing replied. "But they give you the weirdest hallucinations about insects for a week at least. Really not worth it."

"So Orchid disappeared around here?" Glory asked him. "Do you know if Kinkajou was in this area as well?"

"Possibly." He shrugged. "Bromeliad likes as much privacy as possible for training her more difficult pupils, so no one else sees her yelling at them. Oh, and your friends came."

Glory, Starflight, and Clay turn around to see Phantomtide and Opal there. "Hey there."

"How good is your sense of smell?" Glory asks them.

"Pretty good." Opal raises her talon, before inhaling slowly, taking in the nearby scents at the same time Starflight does. Their snouts both wrinkled after a few seconds.

"Ew…" Opal cringes a bit.

"Something decaying." Starflight says. "Like a dying animal." Opal nods in agreement.

"Don't panic." Glory suddenly says quickly. "I'm sure it's not her. It's not a dragon, right?" Phantomtide turns and notices the other Rainwing's scales were a pale sickly green.

"I'm not sure." Starflight replies, lifting his snout and sniffing again. Glory stamped on his foot and he jumped with a yowl of pain. "WHAT? I can't tell!"

"We'll go find it." Glory says to the Rainwing. "You stay here." She looks at Opal and Phantomtide, gesturing for them to follow her, Clay, and Starflight. They walk after them, glancing around. Opal sniffs again, swerving her neck, trying to find the source of the scent. "Couldn't you be a little reassuring?" Glory hissed at Starflight once they were out of earshot of the Rainwing. "Didn't you see his scales?"

"Since when do you care how other dragons feel?" He asked.

"I care better than you do." She countered. "Maybe if you had actual Nightwing powers and could read minds you'd notice what's going on around you."

"HMMP. QUMP FFMPHING." Clay ordered from behind them, as Opal giggles a bit, finding the Mudwing's speech funny.

Starflight glares at Glory as he folds his wings close to his body.

"Well?" Glory demanded. "Can you follow the smell or not?"

He turned and stamped off through the trees.

"Nnnmph vmmy nnnmph." Clay said to Glory sternly.

"Aw, your lectures are even cuter when I can't understand a word of them." She teases. He gave her shoulder a playful shove that nearly sent her through the nearest tree. Opal giggles softly at watching them, then sighs softly.

When they caught up to Starflight, the Nightwing was standing next to a small waterfall, as high as Clay's shoulders, that splashed into a tiny pond. A stream no wider than a dragon tail burbled at the top of the waterfall and away from the pond at the bottom. Opal moved closer to Starflight, before noticing the wheezing sloth on the ground, surrounded by a cloud of flies. The terrible smell was thick in the air.

"Rrrrrrp?" Glory's own sloth leans down around Glory's neck to peer at the one on the ground. She lifted one wing to block the view from her sloth.

"What's wrong with it?" Glory asks, inching towards the gasping sloth. She, and the others, noticed the bite on its leg. The wound was black and crawling with insects. Opal shivered a bit at the sight.

"I'm not entirely sure." Starflight replies. "I mean, that bite shouldn't have been enough to kill it but it's clearly dying."

"Could it be Rainwing venom?" Glory asks. "It looks about the size of a dragon bite." Her sloth started chirruping in a tragic, distressed way, making her slide it off her neck and hold it to her chest, facing away from the one on the ground.

"Maybe." Starflight muses doubtfully. "But it seems like something slower acting to me. I'd guess it's been dying for several days."

"It does smell awful. Poor thing."

"But what is able to do something like that?" Opal asks. "I mean, it's not something any tribe can do, is it?" She glances at the others, before noticing Phantomtide had moved over to a boulder nearby, set against a tree. He went around it to the other side and out of view. Glory follows after him, apparently curious on the boulder as well.

On the other side of the boulder, Phantomtide and Opal found something that wasn't normal. The boulder had a hole in it. But it also looked more than a hole - a doorway.


	11. Mystery upon mystery

Phantomtide, Opal, and Glory stare at the rock, or more precisely, the hole in the rock. A moss curtain partly covered it in a way that didn't look quite accidental enough. A faint sound whistled out of the hole, like a storm howling on the far side of the world. It gave off the sensation that the hole opened into a tunnel, that lead somewhere. The hybrid narrowed his eyes a bit, knowing what was likely the source of that.

"Starflight," Glory said with a tone of calmness, despite the discovery that had been made. "What do you think of this?"

The Nightwing climbed up besides them, peering around the boulder, and jumped back when he saw the hole as a tremor went through his wings.

"I think it's horrible." Starflight responded. "Can't you feel it? Like there's something horribly wrong with it. Like someone ripped a hole where there shouldn't be one. Don't go near it."

"I think I have to go into it."

"You say that like you're not terrified, but I can see your scales turning the same pale green that Mangrove's just were. That means frightened, doesn't it?"

"Don't try to read my scales." Glory snapped as her body turned as black as the Nightwing. "It's not a coincidence that this hole is here, close to where at least one dragon disappeared."

"That's true...but if that's the case, maybe Orchid went through it?" Phantomtide suggests, poking one claw into the gaping entrance, as if testing it.

"Or maybe something came out and got her." Opal and Glory say at the same time, as a shiver runs through the Skywing.

"Um, exactly." Starflight ruffled his wings. "And she was never seen again. I'm pretty sure you just made my point for me."

"I promised I'd figure this out." Glory insisted. "Not run and hide the moment we find a clue."

Clay then joined them, his wings drooping. His jaws were finally free of the rubbery red fruit, as evident when he spoke. "There was nothing I could do for the sloth. It was too far gone."

"Wrrrrrrrrb." Glory's sloth warbles mournfully, as Glory looked over Clay's shoulder, before whispering something to the Mudwing.

"I didn't want to leave it in pain like that." He nods as he responds.

"But you're not going to eat it?" She tilted her head at him.

"Seems a little heartless, you know?"

"Yeah, what in the moons, Glory?" Opal glances sharply back at the Rainwing.

"And from the smell of it, it would probably make you sick." Starflight pointed out.

"Makes me wonder what even bit it." Phantomtide sighs softly. "And if what bit it has any connection to this hole."

Clay noticed the hole for the first time and flared his wings in surprise.

"Creepy!" He yelped as he did. "Why is it so creepy?!"

"Glory wants to go in there." Starflight said, rolling his eyes.

"To be fair, so do I." Phantomtide points out, as Clay stalked up to the hole, sniffed it, and nodded thoughtfully.

"Yeah, we probably have to."

"No, we don't!" Starflight cried out, as he curled his wings towards his body. "That's insane! There could be anything lurking in there!"

"Including the answer to what is attacking the Rainwings." Glory stated. "I'm going in. You four wait here." Clay pounced on her tail and sat on it before she could move. "Ow!" The Rainwing yelped, trying to wriggle free. "Get off, you giant lump."

"We might be doing this, but we're doing it sensibly." Clay says. "As in tomorrow morning, when it's not almost dark, with backup, a rope, and a plan."

"Tomorrow morning?" Glory shoves him as hard as she could, but he didn't budge. "I want answers now!"

"Sounds like something Tsunami would say." Starflight says with a smug face.

"You are so asking to get bitten." Glory growled, then stared at the boulder for a moment, apparently thinking.

"I know how you feel, Glory." Phantomtide looks at her, then back to the hole. "But I agree with Clay. Safety in numbers, after all."

"All right, we can wait until morning, but I'm staying right here to watch this hole."

"I don't think it's going anywhere." Starflight said patronizingly.

"Yeah, but maybe I'll see something go into it. Or come out." At that, the Nightwing backed away from the hole in a hurry, his wings twitching nervously.

"I'll stay with you." Clay said. "Starflight, you go back with Opal and Phantomtide and bring the others back here in the morning, along with the longest, strongest vines you can find."

"And tell Mangrove we'll be here all night, so he can go home. Try to be a little sympathetic, if you can muster that, Starflight, or let either of them explain it to him." Glory nods her head at Phantomtide and Opal.

"All right." starflight huffs, taking several more steps back. "Don't do anything stupid while we're gone."

"We'll try to contain ourselves."

"Come on then, you two." He glances over at Phantomtide and Opal.

"Let's go!" Opal nods and flew off into the trees, followed by the other two as they headed back up to the village above.

"So, Phantom…" Starflight begins as they move through the branches and leaves on their way back. "Is that hole any kind of familiar to you? I mean, you do have your powers…"

"My Animus powers, yes. It felt similar, yes, but as you felt, the feeling any Animus enchanted object gives off a different one depending on the person who enchanted it." Phantomtide muses a bit. "And that is actually the only way that could have been formed, through Animus magic, whatever its purpose is."

"But that opens up more questions." Opal points out. "Like why they'd want to make it. And who could it have been? I mean, you're one, but you don't go around making holes in boulders."

"Yes. The presence of an Animus would be invaluable to any sides of the war. Either of the three sisters would be happy to make use of one. I know that personally."

The three then arrive back at the village, landing on the main platform.

"I'll go tell Tsunami and Sunny." Starflight says.

"I'll come with you!" Opal says, glancing to Phantomtide for a moment, then back at Starflight.

"I'll go ask around about the disappearances a bit more, and see if our new friends have anything to say on the matter. I'll meet you four back at where Glory and Clay are waiting in the morning, alright?" The Skywing and Nightwing nod in response, before winging it to the healers hut, where Sunny and Tsunami were sitting around, watching the healers do their best to try and help Webs with his issue.


End file.
